1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of eyeglass frames that support lens elements over the eyes. More particularly, the present invention relates to the manner by which the eyeglass frames engage the head of a person wearing the eyeglasses.
2. Prior Art Description
Conventional eyeglass frames contain three major components. These components include lens frame elements, a nose bridge, and temple elements. The lens frame elements engage and support lenses in front of the eyes. The lens frame elements are joined together by the bridge that passes over the nose of the person wearing the eyeglasses. Lastly, temple elements extend from the sides of the lens frame elements and pass over the ears of the person wearing the eyeglasses. The temples and the bridge of the eyeglasses function together to keep the eyeglasses in place so that the lenses supported by the eyeglasses remain oriented over the eyes of the wearer. The bridge of conventional eyeglasses commonly contain nose pads that contact the nose. The weight of the eyeglasses are transferred to the nose through the structure of the bridge and the nose pads that extend from the bridge. The bridge therefore rests upon the nose of the person wearing the eyeglasses and prevents the eyeglasses from falling down below the eyes. The temples of the glasses commonly have curved ends that pass around the back of the ears. The temples of the eyeglasses therefore engage the ears and prevent the eyeglasses from moving forward on the face.
Although the temples and bridge elements of eyeglasses are intended to retain eyeglasses in place, eyeglasses are also designed to be easily removed. Accordingly, the degree of attachment provided by the temple and bridge elements of eyeglasses is minimal. This minimal degree of physical attachment causes problems when the person wearing the eyeglasses exercises or otherwise participates in activities that create rapid head movements. During sports and other physical activities, movements of the head create forces on the eyeglasses that cause the eyeglasses to move and even fall from the head. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that sweat causes friction in between the eyeglasses and the head to be reduced. As a result, when a person is participating in physical activities and is wearing eyeglasses, that person often places an elastic tether between the temples to prevent the eyeglasses from falling. The elastic tether passes around the back of the head and biases the eyeglasses against the face. The eyeglasses therefore are much less likely to move on the face.
Many people wear contact lenses instead of eyeglasses. However, during physical activity contact lenses can also become displaced and lost. Additionally, contact lenses do not protect the eyes from injuries as do conventional eyeglasses. As a result, many people who commonly wear contact lenses opt to wear tethered eyeglasses when participating in a physical activity.
As a person wears glasses day after day, the points where the bridge contacts the nose often becomes sore. This causes the wearing of eyeglasses to become painful. Over time many people develop indentations on the nose at the points where the bridge contacts the nose. The indentations are often discolored and are obvious when the eyeglasses are removed. Even people who wear eyeglasses for short periods of time develop indentations in the skin at the points where the bridge rests against the skin. These indentations may last for a few hours even after the eyeglasses are removed. Consequently, even if a person who normally wears contact lenses wears eyeglasses for an athletic event, that person would have to endure unsightly indentations on the nose well after the athletic event was over. The degree of indentations may be made worse by the use of the tether to hold the eyeglasses in place. Tethers bias the eyeglasses against the face. Consequently, the pressure of the bridge against the nose is increased and the degree of skin indentation caused by the bridge is therefore also increased.
In the prior art, there have been attempts to design glasses that do not have a bridge and do not leave indentations on the nose when worn. Such prior art devices are exemplified by U.S. Patent No. 5,016,999 to Williams, entitled DISCRETE LENS EYEGLASSES and U.S. Patent No. 4,006,974 to Resnick, entitled EYEGLASS STRUCTURE. In both of these prior art references, lenses are affixed to the face with a chemical adhesive. As a result, a great amount of effort is required to set the eyeglasses in place. Furthermore, the presence of adhesive in contact with the skin requires that the adhesive be removed with a solvent when the glasses are removed. Concerns are also present in regard to skin irritation caused by either the adhesive or the adhesive solvent.
A need therefore exists in the art for an eyeglass frame structure that does not cause indentations on the skin of the face and does not require the use of adhesives on the skin of the face. A need also exists for an eyeglass frame structure that better attaches to a person's head so that a tether need not be used when a person participates in an athletic activity. These needs are met by the present invention as described and claimed below.